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Every Business and Organization can benefit from using video to connect with their audience

If you have an online space dedicated to sharing information about a product or service, a web video could be a great next step. Video is a straightforward way to deliver information to your visitors in a digestible manner. We’ve just launched our most recent video production, and I thought it would be a chance to share some of my thoughts on what makes a successful short video on the web. This content will be specifically aimed at small businesses, organizations and entrepreneurs.

“The Four E’s”

It’s not entirely formulaic – but I’ve found “The Four E’s” to be a good guideline.

Engage

To be successful, your video must engage the viewer. This is done through a series of small things that make up the final “Big Picture”

–The Communicator – The person in front of the camera. This person must be concise, passionate, and confident. Not every communicator talks. Some perform in sports, music, acting – but they all communicate.
– Give it to me in HD. The nicer it is to look at, the better. Choice of location, angle, lighting, camera, lenses and accessories will all add to this.
– The Audio. It’s a well known cliche in film making that audio is 50% of the video. Viewers will put up with poor visual quality far before we put up with poor audio. Suitable music will almost always add to the production value.
– Content isKing. (Read on!)

Educate

If you’re creating a video for your business or organization, chances are your goal is to share with and educate both your potential and existing customers. This may be direct education through show and tell, or it may be visual communication that highlights specific elements of your products and services. If you can provide an educational element in which your viewer becomes better informed through your video, you’ll begin to be seen as a valuable resource by your audience.

Entertain

Any opportunity to make your content entertaining through visual effects, catchy music, and humour will help keep your viewer engaged with the video. Make sure it jives with the content, and it will increase the likelihood of viewers remembering and sharing the video.

Enable

The goal in any commercial video is to have viewers act on what they’ve seen. Whether it’s to spend more time on your website, to share the video through their social networks, or to sign up for what you’re selling. A good web video will enable your customers to make the next step, being better informed and feeling more confident about their decision.

What do you think?

Those are just a few E’s from what I’ve learned. What do YOU think makes for an effective web video? Join the conversation in the comments!

Cole Bennett is an Illustrative Photographer and Film Maker living in Orillia Ontario.